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Billionaire Steve Cohen is one of Wall Street’s most mysterious characters, making unexpected moves and constantly throwing people off. The head of SAC Capital decided to sell some art, and has put two major pieces by Andy Warhol and one by abstract master Gerhard Richter on the selling block, reportedly to raise capital to face rising legal bills and record penalties related to a continuing government investigation into insider trading at his hedge fund. Yet Cohen, who is an active player in the art market, has also recently acquired a major Picasso and a huge property in the Hamptons.

Preet Bharara, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York speaks of the ongoing investigation of Steve Cohen's SAC Capital - Image credit: AFP/Getty Images via @daylife

The works will be auctioned off by Sotheby’s at their marquee contemporary evening sale on November 13. The two Warhols, one titled “Liz #1 (Early Colored Liz)” and “5 Deaths On Turquoise (Turquoise Disaster,” were both completed in 1963, and could fetch between $27,000,000 and $40,000,000, Sotheby's confirmed. Two Richter's will be auctioned, one titled “A.B. Courbet [616]” which is expected to go for $15,000,000 to $20,000,000, and "Abstraktes Bild," which is estimated at $2,000,000 to $3,000,000.

A spokesperson for Sotheby’s declined to comment on Cohen’s pieces as they don't provide details on ownership, yet it’s not the first time the billionaire hedge fund manager puts his assets on sale. Back in March, Cohen reportedly put his penthouse in the Tower in New York for sale, asking for $115 million, while last year he failed to sell another painting by Richter.

Cohen is said to be selling assets in the face of possibly huge legal costs and fines as the government turns up the heat on the hedge fund billionaire. The Times reported the government is looking to settle with SAC for $2 billion and a guilty plea; Cohen’s lawyers are said to be locked in negotiations with the office of prosecutor Preet Bharara.

By our latest count, Steve Cohen is worth $9.4 billion, with the bulk of his net worth invested in SAC Capital. He gave his own foundation $118 million last year, and this July reportedly invested $30 million of his own cash in Kadmon Corp, a biotech firm run by convicted insider trader Sam Waksal. It remains unclear whether Cohen is having cash problems, but what is clear is that investors are pulling their capital from his hedge fund, taking away a crucial source of income. Cohen’s SAC Capital charges some of the highest fees in the business for managing outside money, which, according to latest reports, could be completely withdrawn in the next few months.

Cohen, one of Wall Street’s greatest traders, is selling art. He’s also selling his penthouse, and possibly looking to offload one of his mansions in the Hamptons. He’s also been buying art, and properties, and stakes in private companies. As chatter about a possible settlement with the government grows louder, the embattled billionaire will have to wait until November 14 to see if can sell the art. He won’t miss it too much, though: Cohen is said to own over 300 pieces worth approximately $1 billion.